Feast of the Appearance of the Virgin in Brazil
Description:
In 1717, three fishermen on the banks of the Paraiba River - Paraiba extracted from their nets a terracotta statuette 40 cm high, which is believed to be an apparent image of the Holy Virgin.
For the next 15 years, the image was in the home of Filipe Pedroso.
The rumor of the miracle gradually spread far beyond the area, and many people began to come for worship and prayer. Over time, the image of the Holy Virgin was placed in the temple.
On September 8, 1904, by order of Pope Pio X, the image of the Holy Virgin was supplemented by a crown and named Queen of Brazil - Rainha do Brasil. In 1930, Pope Pio XI proclaimed the Holy Virgin the patroness of Brazil.
Today in the city of Aparecida (São Paulo state) built a huge temple (a Basílica Nacional de Aparecida) in the form of a cross, accommodating up to 75 million people at a time.
The “heart” of the temple has a height of 70 m, and four arched passages are 40 m high. Anyone visiting the holy place can put a candle (up to 2 m high!) in a separate room, which looks amazing: the room lined with black marble is illuminated with lit candles standing in the water.
During the year this temple is visited by about 7 million people.